Pirates Share Encouraging News on Jared Jones
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have a strong starting rotation, but the return of Jared Jones could make them even better.
Jones is still working back from season-ending surgery last season and even spent time with the Pirates at PNC Park last week, throwing a bullpen in front of pitching coach Bill Murphy, before heading back to down to Bradenton, Fla. and resuming his rehab at Pirate City.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on the Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan that Jones pitched in an "extended Spring Training type sim-game", which went well and saw Jones ramp up the velocity on his four-seam fastball to 100 mph.
Cherington knows the desire from Jones to get back on the mound and throw as hard as he can, but they want to make sure that he's still progressing properly, with another strong outing giving him a chance to start a rehab assignment.
“He’ll have another outing like that for the extended team this coming week," Cherington said. "If that goes well, if that next outing in extended goes well, then I think we’ll start to look at a more formal rehab assignment start.”
Where Jones Is At in His Lengthy Rehab
Jones underwent internal brace surgery on May 21, 2025, which despite being less invasive as Tommy John surgery, still requires a long-healing period and a 10-12 month recovery timeline.
He is making progress towards getting fully healthy by the end of May and fulfilling that timeline, but still has a few things to accomplish before getting back to the major league level.
Jones getting closer to the rehab assignment is a big deal, as that will mark his first real competitions against opposing hitters, not from the Pirates organization, since Spring Training 2025.
He will pitch at various minor league levels, starting out with Single-A Bradenton, then working his way up to Triple-A Indianapolis before he comes back to Pittsburgh.
Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomcyzk said on April 16 that Jones will likely pitch in three-to-six sim type games, with live batting practice, before they decide on him starting his first rehab assignment.
Jones still can't officially come back to the Pirates until May 25 at the earliest, as they placed him on the 60-day injured list, which started on Opening Day, March 26.
He also can't officially start his first rehab assignment until 30 days before he comes off the 60-day injured list, which is April 25, just five days away.
Jones had a strong showing with the Pirates as a rookie in 2024, especially when healthy, and if he can reach that level of performance in 2026, the pitching staff will get that much better because of it.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.